Correspondence
Basic Overview Correspondence is the magic of connections – links between Patterns that exist independent of distance and space. For example, a wedding ring links you to your spouse, even if you're on opposite sides of the world. It may be easy to pass off Correspondence as the magic of space, but the Sphere has broader applications than that. Correspondence covers relationships between objects, links between places, distance, and ultimately the realization that distance is just an illusion. Correspondence cannot teleport a person's heart out of their body, or the gas out of a car, without using high levels of Life or Matter as well. Correspondence doesn't affect parts of a Pattern – it is concerned about the relationships between Patterns as a whole. Sphere Levels ; Apprentice Correspondence (Immediate Spatial Perceptions) : The Mage has learned how to see space, and gained an intuitive knowledge of distances and directions. Common effects at this point allow the Mage to feel out the contours of objects around him, to accurately know the distance to or size of an object, and sense Patterns which may be hidden to his other senses. With the right Rotes, a Mage can even detect warps in space, teleportation signatures, gates, wormholes, and other instabilities in space. ; Initiate Correspondence (Sense and Touch Space) : You can now extend your senses with Correspondence – not only sight and sound, but touch, smell, and taste if need be. More elaborate rituals may allow you to conduct long-distance scrying, but generally requires something connected to that place, and creates more of a connection (and thus evidence) than most Mages care to leave. The visions of this level are vague and unclear, as well. To a lesser degree, you can also strengthen the notion of space, making it harder for others to scry on you. You can sense space, touch it, feel it – but as of yet, not mold it, rip it, tear it, or repair it. Also, you can now combine Correspondence with other Spheres, increasing their range of usefulness. ; Disciple Correspondence (Pierce and Seal Space, Co-Locality Perception) : The Mage has learned to manipulate the very fabric of space, in a clumsy fashion. The character can now open rifts in space lasting for an instant. Rather than simply sending his perceptions, the Mage can now send himself across space, in a limited but effective form of teleportation. Furthermore, the Mage's ability to strengthen Space is enhanced, allowing them to seal space against intrusion and close gates and wormholes. Even more impressive, the Mage now has a limited ability to remove their perceptions from the limits of space, watching and listening at many places at once. Of course, this Sphere alone doesn't help the Mage interpret the incoming data, and co-locality perception can quickly turn into a cacophony of sight and sound. ; Adept Correspondence (Rend Space, Co-Locate Self) : No longer simply opening portals for a moment, the Mage now tears holes in space that remain, allowing others to move through the distortion. A Mage might also tear space around an object, effectively removing its influence from reality. The Mage can also make space selective, creating portals that only allow certain patterns, or place himself outside of space, allowing him to watch literally from nowhere. Finally, more than just extending perceptions to multiple places, the Mage can now be at multiple places at once – and with judicious use of other Spheres, might even be able to think and act differently in each place! ; Master Correspondence (Mutate Localities, Co-Location) : The Master of Correspondence not only pulls, tears, and mends space, but bends and twists it like taffy. A Mage can stretch distances, play with volumes and angles, and rework the very nature of dimensions and space. A three-foot rod might look ten feet long, or a gun's bullet could reverse on the shooter. More interestingly, the Mage can now remove the limits of space – things can exist in the same location at the same time, superimposed upon each other as two locations become one. Mages using this level of Correspondence with other Spheres can create bizarre effects, interacting with space in ways only limited by the Mage's imagination. Ranges This table represents the effective range one can reach using Correspondence, or how distant a connection can be influenced, based on successes rolled. Alternate Names Among the Traditions * Akashic Brotherhood: Indra's Net, the Lokhadhatu * Celestial Chorus: Sacred Pattern * Cult of Ecstasy: Illusion of Space * Dreamspeakers: The Great Dance * Euthanatos: Avayavin * Order of Hermes: Ars Conjunctionis * Sons of Ether: Contiguous Ether * Verbena: The Art of the Pathways * Virtual Adepts: The Turing Revolution, the Reality Hypersphere Sample Rotes Rank 1 ; Landscape of the Mind:This Effect, available to all Correspondence Disciples, allows a mage to sense the objects which fill the space around her. She can extend the area of perception, but this requires more and more active concentration. After the area reaches the diameter of a city block, the sensory input becomes too much to bear. ; Whereami?:The mage can sense where she is in relation to everything else. Virtual Adepts call this Effect "whereami?" When used conjunctionally with the first rank of Spirit, it can help establish which world or Shard Realm (and where in it) the mage is in, while a conjunctional Effect with Mind 1 allows the mage to establish whether she is hallucinating or dreaming. Rank 2 ; Open/Close Window (Correspondence Sensing):Through the ancient technique of scrying, a mage may open a window in space and extend her senses through it to observe events at a remote location. This is often combined with Time or Spirit so as to search other times or worlds. : Scrying may also examine snags in the Tapestry, like those left by a teleporting mage or previous scrying, and trace it back to the other side. Combined with Spirit, a mage may scan to another Realm. Such spying may be detected, however, by a target rolling Perception + Sensitivity (or Vigilance for other mystick creatures), difficulty 7. : A mage may also reverse this Effect so as to shut a window or prevent one from opening, such as when a mage senses that someone is attempting to scry her. This works like countermagick against the spy. ; Apportation:By pressing against the fabric of space, a mage may create a pinprick in the Tapestry. While too small to step through, such rifts allow the mage to grasp a distant item and pull it through - or send it away - using Life or Matter. This only works on very small, simple objects. : A third rank variation allows the mystick to forge a connection to some simple object - again with Life or Matter - which allows it to levitate or fly for the Effect's duration. ; Ward:While windows in space are the most popular method of magickal spying, wards are the most popular prevention. The mage reaches out with the threads of her magick and the fabric of space, creating a ward. : Wards vary in strength, ranging from mere "window blinds" to "iron shutters." Each success subtracts from attempts to scry, apport or teleport either way. Indeed, some areas are so heavily warded that breaking through would take years - which, of course, is only fair, as the wards were built up over a span of years as well. Attempts to break down a ward will leave traces unless the mage chooses to repair it and cover her tracks. : Many wards, especially ancient and powerful ones, have keys or back doors; mages who possess these (or discover them through Enigmas or Computer rolls) may bypass them. With Life or Matter, wards may also be placed on people or objects, making it more difficult to scry or otherwise access them via Correspondence. : A level 3 variation, Ban, can actually stop objects or beings which have been warded against. Only one specific thing - knives, lightning, vampires - can be so banished. This requires an item with some connection to the banned thing, a conjunctional Effect with Life, Matter or Spirit 3 and five or more successes to erect. Only unweaving can destroy a ban, though objects not banned - bullets, or items or spells thrown by the banned party - pass right through unless they too have been banned. Oddly, this does not work against True Magick or Paradox spirits. This lasts for the spell's duration. Rank 3 ; Chain:A chain is a magical bond which links two objects or creatures to each other through sympathetic Resonance. Such bonds often already exist, but a mage with Correspondence can strengthen them or create one where none was before. For each success with this Effect, a mage may take an object or creature up (or down) on the Correspondence Range Chart. ; The Seven-League Stride:The name of this Effect harkens back to medieval times and the mages of the Order of Hermes who commonly made use of "seven-league" boots as foci for this Effect, each stride taking the wearer precisely seven leagues forward. : This magick creates a small, extremely transitory rip in the fabric of space, allowing a mystick to slip through to reach any other location on Earth. Depending on the precise magick used, she may see all the intervening space moving by in a blur, or she may simply click her heels together, disappear and reappear. : This Effect does not immunize a mage to her new surroundings; if she shifted to the ocean depths expecting a submarine to be there, she would be crushed by the intense water pressure. Scrying one's intended destination beforehand is advisable - "Look before you leap" as the proverb goes. Consequently many mages favor magic mirrors as their foci, as these may both be looked and stepped through. : Level 4 variations of this Effect exist, involving teleportation machines, cabinets and secret doors. These higher-level Effects transport larger or more numerous subjects. Misdirection is essential; a subject hidden from sight when it disappears is less likely to arouse suspicion - and Paradox. ; Divided Sight:Cultists of Ecstasy love this Effect, which multiplies their sensory input. A mage merely extends her senses to multiple locations at once; visions stack atop one another like photographic multiple exposure, and sounds mix like radios tuned to different stations. : There is no limit to the number of locations a mage can sense, but a Wits roll is needed to distinguish which objects are in which location. The difficulty number is equal to twice the number of scenes being viewed. Going above one's Perception or Wits rating is dangerous; such overload can push a mystick into Quiet. ; Filter All-Space:Given certain knowledge about any person or object, the mage can search through reality to find where the object exists in three-dimensional space. The less the mystick knows, the longer such searches take, and there are no guarantees. There are many heavily warded areas in three-dimensional space, not to mention portals to other worlds and times, so such searches are lengthy and uncertain. ; Stalking the Void:This advanced version of Open Window allows a mage skilled in Correspondence to trace a snag in the Tapestry back to its point of origin. While the second rank of Correspondence allows a mage to reopen a window, this Effect allows a mage to break through personally to confront the spy. : This Effect is particularly popular among the Euthanatos. However, Correspondence only deals with space; some disturbances extend to other times and dimensions. To be absolutely certain of your prey, older mages advise that trackers add Time and Spirit perceptions to scout ahead. Some mages who have used this Effect have never been heard from again, for many disturbances are not what they seem... Rank 4 ; Bubble of Reality:Using this magick, the mage warps space around her body or some other thing, taking it into its own pocket universe. In this state, she is completely invisible and intangible to everything around her. The walls to the world outside are thin, however, and the mage may scry out (or in) from her bubble of reality. Moving bubbles and large bubbles (such as would contain a motorcycle or building) require four successes or more. ; Hermes Portal:The Order of Hermes claims to have created this Correspondence Effect, cutting a permanent Gate in the Tapestry, then sealing the breach with a powerful ban to prevent the passage of everything but sentient, willing creatures. : The resulting magick creates an apparent window which can connect a drawing room to the deep ocean while preventing the water and fish from pouring through the breach. The alternative is of course highly vulgar and extremely dangerous, though not unknown, especially as a terrorist measure by Maruaders. : Many of these portals may be placed in the same location, giving the effect of a hall of mirrors, each opening onto a new location, with an area of null-space in between. Rank 5 ; Co-location:With this bizarre magick, a mage may stack multiple locations, allowing them to freely interact. No damage occurs to objects that superimpose themselves on one another during co-location, yet they are solid to one another, and, once separated, will not superimpose again. : Stacking two locations is possible, but highly vulgar (raise the difficulty to 10), and generally speaking, only done by Marauders. ; Polyappearance:The mage may appear in multiple locations at once. This Effect parallels Divided Sight but in addition to sensing locations, the mage's physical form actually appears in each location as well. Observers in each location will see the mage and can interact with her normally. The willworker, however, must simultaneously interact with each location into which she has projected herself. Anything she says or does will be heard and seen by observers at all locations. : This interaction is one-way from the mage's perspective. Items in one location do not affect observers who are in a different location, but all objects in all locations affect the mystick equally. The walls closest to her will block her sight, and she will suffer from assaults directed at any of her co-located body positions. : A mage can use this phenomenon to her advantage. The Akashic art of Do contains an advanced movement called the Kick of the Four Winds. The attacker executes a flying spin kick at an opponent, and while in midair, co-locates to four positions directly around the opponent, so that the force of one kick impacts the opponent from four sides instead of one (add four additional Health Levels of damage to the blow). : Mages who truly wish to occupy several places at once can use a conjunctional Effect with Mind, Prime and Life, creating a new body and train of thought for each additional location. While this magick allows for multiple mundane tasks, it does not duplicate the Avatar; only the original may perform magick. ; Spatial Mutations:With this magick, the mage can stretch distances, change the size of objects and warp space around her. A short hallway could be made to stretch on for miles, while a HITmark could be shrunk to the size of an ant. : Mass, however, does not change, unless the mage uses a conjunctional Effect with Life or Matter, and while an ant-sized HITmark would be easy to run away from, it would be almost impossible to crush. Category:Spheres of Magic